A hub for the future

THE LEADING pallet network has confirmed it is going ahead with the development of a state-of-the-art flagship distribution centre in the Midlands following a deal with developer Barberry.

The site at Bardon in Leicestershire is a few miles from junction 22 of the M1 and was chosen because of its size, proximity to Pall-Ex’s current operational centre, consideration of environmental value and access to strategic road network.

The £80 million 408,000 ft2 hub greenfield facility will rise to a 19m eaves height, and comes with an additional 100,000 sq ft canopy, on a 35-acre site. It will also comprise 32,324 ft2 of Grade A office space, an ancillary workshop of 6,695 ft2 and parking for 172 HGVs.

Construction is due to begin later this year.

Investment

Kevin is confident the investment will pay off despite some uncertainty in the pallet network market. The sector has been largely recession proof, achieving significant year-on-year growth until a few years ago, when it dropped 13% from 2022 to 2023.

Kevin explains: “Since we bought the company in late 2019, the only norm has been uncertainty, but we have always had confidence that our model is good and our team is strong.

“We will make our plans and navigate through challenges as they come along. The new hub project is central to our growth plans.”

Kevin added that while many companies have taken a ‘batten down the hatches approach’, Pall-Ex has rolled out investment in a new IT system, and an expanded commercial team, as well as the new hub.

The pallet network is striving to embed excellence within its operations. For instances the firm launched its Operational Excellence accreditation scheme in October 2024. This provides a structured excellence programme to help continuously improve operations.

Workforce

The new hub is a central part of the strategy to boost staff retention.

Kevin explains: “Last February, I spoke to our AGM about the opportunities and risks we see around the workforce – from forklift drivers, to cleaners, to marketeers, we cannot get enough of the right people.”

The facility will feature staff welfare recreation zones, for instance, incorporating football pitch, basketball court and club house – all aimed at attracting and retaining staff.

Kevin says: “It’s been a tough journey, it took time to find the right site close to our staff. We have worked closely with Hinckley Boswell Council, who have been amazing with their support. I’ve not seen it in 40 years of business.

“It will be a fantastic facility for staff in terms of leisure and sport and will be surrounded by woodland. We want to make it an exciting, dynamic, interesting place to come and work, over and above being a place where people can progress their careers.

“We could have taken a spec build, but that would have had compromises, such as moving away from the area and making it difficult for our people. You also don’t get the site built for maximum efficiency and you don’t always have sufficient yard space on site.”

Sustainability

The Centre of Excellence has been designed with sustainability in mind. It will be built to exceptional ESG standards, aiming for EPC A+ and BREEAM Excellent accreditation.

To achieve the highest rating of EPC A+, the new hub incorporates a variety of energy-efficient and eco-friendly features, including electric vehicle charging stations, solar panels and designated green spaces. Once complete, it will be the first purpose-built facility in the pallet network sector in the UK to be energy self-sufficient.

Kevin explains: “We take a long term view and the hub is the best example of that. We are taking a Greenfield site and building the most efficient hub we can and it will be energy self sufficient.

“There are no electric vehicles are present that can do a trunking job for us, but it will come and we have the infrastructure on site to support it.”

In-hub operations

In terms of pallet handling inside the hub, Pall-EX is staying with largely manual operations for the time being, but is considering automation for some processes.

Kevin says: “We decided not to do this immediately as we did not want to do it at the same time as moving into the new hub but we have reviewed the use of robotics and conveyors to move freight from the central points of the facility as vehicles are unloaded to the member bay area.

“The load out area is very much like a jigsaw and there is no robot that can do that, its the job of a trained, experience loader. But unloading from a vehicle could be automated, so we have started to look at that. It is the way things are going due to labour shortages.”

Kevin sees a drive towards greater use of technology and more consolidation as the key trends for pallet network sector over the next few years.

“We have pushed the envelope in terms of technology across the board. The use of ETAs, for example, is established and customers love it, it reduces phone queries greatly.”

For more information, visit www.pallex.co.uk